Is this a MMO?

[Demonjustin]

While the recent updates have allowed for better gear, they still haven't offered anything that will allow me to take my BRD and PLD off the shelf.

What's wrong with your BRD? Ochain or Aegis PLD should be able to get use in Ark Angel fights if you know people who do them or make your own groups.

They still have not changed the fact that 18 people are required to do delve, all the instadeath makes dynamis wins unsoloable, and there are multi parson switches all over vanadiel that can't be triggered alone. Finding people has actually become more difficult because everyone is off soloing.

Delve outside NMs can be low manned, Bosses are the only ones that take 18 people anymore, Plasm can be gotten via vouchers from RoE. Dynamis wins are soloable, just use a pet job or a job with twilight and you should be able to solo all of them except maybe Dynamis Lord with a fair amount of ease. Switches I agree are problematic but there aren't too many left I can think of, and I'm sure those will be gone in time.

You can buy skill up stuff with sparks but I've still used over 400 astrial homelands and still not capped on my SMN. I still have many other skills like enhancing, handbell and guarding that I still need to work with.

Sparks are fairly easy to get and only give 1 skill up worth, I don't see the issue here personally, its just time taking.

The more they add without any wiki support makes correct/updated information on everything in the game harder to find.

Actually they just added basically all of the stat info to new gear for us to see so we can tell its stats without having to play guessing games, such as Atrophy Chapeau +1 having +12 Fast Cast, rather than Enhances Fast Cast.

No progress has been made in cracking down on the use of 3rd party tools.

Such as? Bots? Report them, about the only thing that needs to truly go.

While I know they're doing some things that are nifty, it's not doing anything to address core problems with the game.

Depends on where you stand, and what you think the core issues are. Allowing me to solo Salvage, giving me side missions to do anywhere anytime I please, tons of great new gear to strive for, hard new battles, revived old battlefields, to me, one of my largest core issues was the fact I had not much to do outside of Monstrosity, now, I have a ton to do. To me, that issue was addressed, not all issues, no, but quite a few have been slowly solved in great ways.

[Inafking]

What's wrong with your BRD? Ochain or Aegis PLD should be able to get use in Ark Angel fights if you know people who do them or make your own groups.

r/e/m are impossible without people. "people are hard to find" is one of my premises.

Delve outside NMs can be low manned, Bosses are the only ones that take 18 people anymore, Plasm can be gotten via vouchers from RoE. Dynamis wins are soloable, just use a pet job or a job with twilight and you should be able to solo all of them except maybe Dynamis Lord with a fair amount of ease. Switches I agree are problematic but there aren't too many left I can think of, and I'm sure those will be gone in time.

If you can find people to low man and if you can find people for the boss KI so you can buy everything. Pet jobs only get you so far and not everyone has them. What comes next is a list of areas you need to try on your own:
Dynamis Beaucedine Glacier
Halvung
Oldton Movalpolos
Phomiuna Aqueducts
I could mention more, but it's obvious you don't have a lot of experience so I would recommend you go explore.

Sparks are fairly easy to get and only give 1 skill up worth, I don't see the issue here personally, its just time taking.

The issue is with a couple of skills that are way out of balance and require other jobs to skill the one you're currently trying to skill.

Such as? Bots? Report them, about the only thing that needs to truly go.

I don't know why I should have to, they should be able to find them easier than I can. I used to report people all the time. It rarely did any good. I haven't done it recently because I don't see the point. Banning them is not going to do anything to resolve the core issues with the game these people are trying to address.

You don't seem to have a lot of understanding about what's going on in the game. Please stop trying to give out advice. You're not helping.

[Xantavia]

What comes next is a list of areas you need to try on your own:
Dynamis Beaucedine Glacier
Halvung
Oldton Movalpolos
Phomiuna Aqueducts
I could mention more, but it's obvious you don't have a lot of experience so I would recommend you go explore.

Dynamis Glacier - only been there a handful of times, so I'm not sure what takes multiple people to access.
Halvung and Movalpolos - Only thing I can think of requiring multiple people is for the convenience factor. You can flip switches to get where you need solo, just takes a longer time due to more running around.
Aquaducts - just the final room for a single CoP mission isn't it.

Eldeime Necropolis is the only zone I can think of off-hand that is impossible to pass through solo. QSC and Garlaige have been addressed over the past year or two.

[Inafking]

Dynamis Glacier - only been there a handful of times, so I'm not sure what takes multiple people to access.
Halvung and Movalpolos - Only thing I can think of requiring multiple people is for the convenience factor. You can flip switches to get where you need solo, just takes a longer time due to more running around.
Aquaducts - just the final room for a single CoP mission isn't it.

Eldeime Necropolis is the only zone I can think of off-hand that is impossible to pass through solo. QSC and Garlaige have been addressed over the past year or two.

You seem to be another person with no idea what's going on. You're not helping.

[Demonjustin]

r/e/m are impossible without people. "people are hard to find" is one of my premises.

Umm... I can solo, and have soloed, just about every single Empyrean NM at some point on RDM, with the exception of Glavoid, the Sandworm in Attohwa [A], and Khimera whom of which I have yet to try. Between the horribly insane amount of EVA, DEF, MEVA, and MDEF we have on our current gear, the NMs specifically in the path to get your Ochain, would be cake, same with a Harp, Harp however I have not seen people require in shouts for AAs on my server, but, that could just be over here, or they might just be getting glanced over by me.

In either case. T1/2/3 VNMs are easy, with the amount of MEVA we have you could kill them likely without any assistance besides possibly a Barspell on quite a few jobs /DNC, I used to solo them on RDM before Adoulin gear, with the exception of rare times a T3 would 1shot me, it was quite possible, nowadays, they hardly touch me. As for Ironclads, they have been just as easy to solo, EVA makes them much easier, just don't fight the one with the ability to strip you, or kite nuke it, bit time taking like the other trial but thats all. Azdaja you can solo very easily with a mild Fast Cast set for any job and /NIN, cycle shadows, maybe bring some healing temps from the NPC if you have no native healing powers, and Azdaja will fall quick and easy. The Khimera I would think is the hardest of them all, but I haven't tried it so I can not exactly give advice on it as of yet, that one may take more specific jobs rather than anything with /DNC or anything with /NIN.

If you can find people to low man and if you can find people for the boss KI so you can buy everything. Pet jobs only get you so far and not everyone has them. What comes next is a list of areas you need to try on your own:
Dynamis Beaucedine Glacier
Halvung
Oldton Movalpolos
Phomiuna Aqueducts
I could mention more, but it's obvious you don't have a lot of experience so I would recommend you go explore.

I fear you may take what I say in the context of a level 30 or something similar, I am the same Demonjustin who used to go under Demon6324236 on these forums before I was Perma-banned for attempted to start talks about one of the forbidden subjects you mentioned. I can assure you, I am quite experienced. As for the areas you mentioned you need people to get through, yeah, they didn't come to mind, but please, tell me how many people you think have been in Halvung, Oldton, or the Aqueducts(Still for the life of me can not think of one in here, only in the near by area of Sacrarium.)

As for Beaucedine, that is why I did mention a possible need of Twilight, BST gets access to Beatific Shield which with some PDT gear and Twilight on should keep you alive from the 4 dragons while your pet of choice chases it down and kills it as best it can, if you die, get up, use a new pet, throw it at the NM again. I suggest using cheap pets after the first time you die, its unlikely to kill you without Chainspell Death originally but then it will get iffy. If you get Shield Mastery on your Shield you can also build some great TP that way from the blocks and WS it when you raise up with Twilight which should be a nice bonus in DMG as well. All in all though, very possible Im sure, Death, or more specifically Chainspell Death, is your only true worry on BST I would think.

The issue is with a couple of skills that are way out of balance and require other jobs to skill the one you're currently trying to skill.

That seems more an argument towards increasing the current skill rate, the original way you put seems more like you were saying they need to increase what the books give you. To some extent I think the books should be 1 flat out skill up rather than skill points, but, the point I tried to make is its possible either way, easier than ever before, and it sounded just a tad bit ungrateful that you had to use 400 books you bought from random work you did to skill up and not even cap SMN, where as a month ago you would have been that SMN standing outside of Lower Jeuno everyone runs by as you spam their chat log with Carbuncle and Garuda.

I agree some skills need to cap faster and are currently unbalanced, and I would even argue with the speed of the game, skill ups in general need massively sped up, playing this character has brought me to that realisation after playing with Trust NPCs to 30 on RDM only to find my Sword and Dagger about 20 levels from cap with full time meleeing and my magic skills are so horribly gimped I dare not mention them.

I don't know why I should have to, they should be able to find them easier than I can. I used to report people all the time. It rarely did any good. I haven't done it recently because I don't see the point. Banning them is not going to do anything to resolve the core issues with the game these people are trying to address.

So, you complain that they have not done anything better to fix the issue of bots and such, yet, at the very same time, say you are not willing to assist with getting them banned in the only way you possibly can. To some extent I can agree with that, I honestly want to quit this game to some degree, and have for some time, mostly sticking around due to friends, one of the primary reasons for my wish to depart is the cost of everything being so high due to what I believe are the results of a massive amount of inflation from people who bot for fish, driving a ton of gil into the market on a daily basis, just like Blinkers did when they were worth doing. Now it has become a much more narrow issue, but an issue never the less, that makes it harder to buy things I need such as Plutons, because I do not bot, so those people who do bot and need Plutons like I do just buy it at higher prices and I end up without the power to get them. I know not everyone does it, but I know some who do and have.

I report people all the time when I am able, yes it sucks, but its something. You said you have reported them before, well, my idea is to just send a new report every day or every few days with roughly the same information about Beaucedine and its fishers, until something is done, if nothing is ever done, well, I have to agree, I am disappoint at the lack of action.

As for banning them not solving issues, what do you want them to do? Pure honest question out of curiosity, because to me, banning people is the only possible solution outside of nerfing the ways they make their money botting, and if you nerf that, you hurt bots and legit players alike, its a lose lose, unless you meant something else.

You don't seem to have a lot of understanding about what's going on in the game. Please stop trying to give out advice. You're not helping.

Your incorrect in your first statement so I chose to disregard the second and third, as I believe that perhaps you are underestimating my advice due to the misconception of what you believe is a lack of understanding about what is going on in this game.

[Twille]

I am the same Demonjustin who used to go under Demon6324236 on these forums before I was Perma-banned

*sigh*
(ten char)

[Renaissance2K]

So, you complain that they have not done anything better to fix the issue of bots and such, yet, at the very same time, say you are not willing to assist with getting them banned in the only way you possibly can. To some extent I can agree with that, I honestly want to quit this game to some degree, and have for some time, mostly sticking around due to friends, one of the primary reasons for my wish to depart is the cost of everything being so high due to what I believe are the results of a massive amount of inflation from people who bot for fish, driving a ton of gil into the market on a daily basis, just like Blinkers did when they were worth doing. Now it has become a much more narrow issue, but an issue never the less, that makes it harder to buy things I need such as Plutons, because I do not bot, so those people who do bot and need Plutons like I do just buy it at higher prices and I end up without the power to get them. I know not everyone does it, but I know some who do and have.

I'm glad somebody else said this. There's a reason why we have 911 instead of simply placing a police officer and a fire engine on every street corner.

The botting thing is a no-win situation for the FFXI team. It's an arms race. It's the MMO equivalent on the War on Drugs. One side makes a move, and the other side counters. The quality of life of botters decreases slightly (it's easy for them to simply move en masse to the next gil fountain) whereas legitimate, non-botting players that were using the same venue as a revenue source lose their daily bread.

I've been playing this game on and off since 2004, and there has not been one instance of anti-botting measures that didn't result in the fury of a thousand suns on the various fan forums. Even the Special Task Force - which was introduced as basically a squad of RMT hit men - was greeted with a barrage of STF(U) jokes.

The team definitely realized at some point that the best way to combat the RMT crowd is to simply make it easier to make gil using methods that force the wealth to trickle down from the top. Lots of the items that wealthy players rely on for upgrading or augmenting their gear are accessible from sources that all players can access. As for the actual bots themselves, banning two is just going to cause three to pop up in their place. It's the nature of the beast. A game without bots is a game that nobody is playing.